Zahl vs zählte, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“Zahl” is a noun and “zählte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#730
“Zahl” frequency rank: #7,557
“zählte” frequency rank: 8287
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Zahl	zählte
Definition	numerischer Wert, Quantität (das Wieviel)	1. Person Singular Indikativ Präteritum Aktiv des Verbs zählen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Zahl and zählte apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

Zahl

6 ch

zählte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Zahl is [t͡saːl] while zählte is [ˈt͡sɛːltə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8287, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Zahl is recorded at frequency rank #730, classified as anoun, pronounced [t͡saːl]. zählte is at rank #7,557, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt͡sɛːltə].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 8287, this pair ranks #1,984,880 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Zahl vs zählte

Shared letters: hlz. Private to "Zahl": a. Private to "zählte": etä.

"Zahl" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "zählte" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

Zahl ← azhl · zahhl · zahll · zalh · zhal · zzahl

Frequency comparison

Zahl#730

zählte#7,557

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Zahl" and "zählte" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Zahl" is a noun and "zählte" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "Zahl" or "zählte"?

"Zahl" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #730 in our German list, against #7,557 for "zählte". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Zahl vs zählte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Zahl”; for a verb, it's “zählte”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Zahl” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable